Ura Kazuki is a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Neyagawa, Osaka. After winning a gold medal in sumo at the 2013 World Combat Games, he made his professional debut in 2015, wrestling with the Kise stable and he won the jonokuchi division championship in his first tournament. He reached the top makuuchi division in March 2017. In July 2017 he reached his highest rank, of maegashira 4, but he has only just returned after two extended injury layoffs caused his rank to plummet. He has a kinboshi, or gold star, for defeating a yokozuna. His unpredictable style has made him a favourite with tournament crowds.
In February 2015, he announced his intention to enter the Kise stable as a professional sumo wrestler, and after his first bouts in March, made his tournament debut in the May basho, winning the jonokuchi division. He again performed well in the July tournament, posting a 7–0 record and losing a playoff for the jonidan division championship. After going 5–2 in the sandamne division in September, he finished the year with a 7–0 record as a makushita debutante, again losing a division championship playoff in November. Ura began 2016 with a 6–1 record and another makushita playoff loss in January. Also going 6–1 in March, he was promoted to jūryō for the next tournament. In recognition of becoming the first among their alumni to achieve sekitori rank, he was given a keshō-mawashi by Kwansei Gakuin University. In the May tournament, he was noted for having used a rare winning technique, koshinage, a hip throw. He finishing 10–5 and with a 11–4 finish in the July tournament, he entered the September event as the top-ranked jūryō, but he went 6–9, his first losing record, having fractured a bone in his left wrist that required surgery after the tournament. On his return, he posted a 8–7 record in the November tournament. At the January 2017 tournament, he employed another rare winning technique, using tasukizori to win his bout against fellow jūryō wrestler, Amakaze. Since 1955 when winning techniques were first announced, this was the first recorded instance of this kimarite in sumo's upper divisions. His overall 11–4 record in this tournament led to his promotion to the top makuuchi division and a rank of maegashira 12. In March 2017, before a home crowd in Osaka, he achieved a winning record of 8–7, and entered the May 2017 tournament at maegashira 10. There he scored eleven wins against four losses in this tournament, but did not receive a special prize for his efforts, despite speculation that he would win the Technique Award. Former yokozunaKitanofuji, commentating for NHK, expressed his surprise at the omission. Still, his performance earned him a career-high ranking of maegashira 4 for the July 2017 tournament. There he got off to a 5–1 start, but then injuries among those ranked above him shifted him to a more challenging schedule, facing the san'yaku, the foremost wrestlers, for the first time. Though he defeated Harumafuji on Day 9 to earn his first kinboshi or gold star for a win over a yokozuna, he injured his knee in a defeat to ozekiTakayasu on the following day, and he lost four of his remaining five matches to finish with a make-koshi 7–8 record.
Injury problems
Ura withdrew from the summer regional tour that followed the July 2017 tournament, citing damaged right knee ligaments, and indicated he would need a month's rest to recover. He returned for the September tournament, but exacerbated his injury on the second day and was forced to withdraw, with reports indicating a right knee anterior cruciate ligament injury and a left knee meniscus injury that would require surgery. With the subsequent extended rehabilitation, he only returned to the competition a year later at the September 2018 contest, having dropped three divisions in the rankings to near the bottom of sandanme. In this tournament he went 6–1 to stop his slide, and followed that with an undefeated 7–0 record and sandamne division championship in the November 2018 tournament. This returned him to makushita for the January 2019 contest, but he re-injured his right-knee ligament on day 10 and withdrew from the remainder of the tournament. He underwent surgery again in late February 2019, requiring another extended recovery period, from which he only returned the following November, having dropped to the bottom of jonidan, his lowest rank since his debut tournament. He achieved a 6–1 record in this first tournament back, and in the following tournament in January 2020, from the rank of jonidan 28, an undefeated 7–0 record and a playoff victory earned Ura the division championship. Fighting at the rank of sandanme 30 at the March tournament, Ura won his second straight division championship with another perfect 7-0 record and a playoff win. This result earned him a return to makushita for the July tournament.
Style
He is predominantly a pusher, but the unpredictability of his improvisational style that responds to opponents' moves has made him popular. Ura has been called "agile as a gymnast" and his bouts acrobatic. His choice of a deep pinkmawashi over the traditional brown or black angered some sumo elders. His favourite techniques as listed in his Japan Sumo Association profile are both very rare: ashitori and izori. When he first entered the professional ranks Ura's weight was listed as, but by May 2017 he had bulked up to, heavier than some other sekitori such as Ishiura and Terutsuyoshi.
